


A Lightless Place

by MathClassWarfare



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff and Angst, Headcanon, M/M, POV Noctis Lucis Caelum, Prompt Fill, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:27:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24005854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MathClassWarfare/pseuds/MathClassWarfare
Summary: ForActivelyWeird'stwitter prompt, here's some Noctis-centric angst with a dash of fluff.
Relationships: Prompto Argentum/Noctis Lucis Caelum
Comments: 12
Kudos: 29
Collections: FFXV Creators' Haven





	A Lightless Place

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ActivelyWeird](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ActivelyWeird/gifts).



There is only darkness here. Any light that enters this prison disappears before it can illuminate anything. Whether it’s absorbed by the ring or his own body, Noctis isn’t sure. 

He passes an unseen hand across his face, grazing fingertips over his beard. How long has it been? He has no idea. This place exists outside of time. 

Though it makes no difference, he closes his eyes. 

He drifts. 

He falls back into himself until he can see. 

_Calm water and the end of a fishing line. Soft breaths puff against his cheek and ear. A chin rests on his shoulder. Noctis gently spins the reel and leans against his best friend, who smells like sunscreen and lake water. Noctis wasn’t even swimming, but his shirt is half-soaked from Prompto’s dripping hair. Residual laughter rises up inside him—an aftershock from something Prompto said a few minutes earlier._ (What was it? He can’t remember anymore.) _Hilarity overtakes them, until they’re both wheezing and wiping tears from their eyes. Noctis looks away from the lake with a smile that’s only for Prompto. When they kiss, he can taste the diet soda Prompto was drinking—weirdly sweet and slightly astringent. Then there’s a tug on his line, and Noctis returns to the task at hand. Prompto wraps him in freckled arms and holds him close, against his bare chest—his skin is warm and pink and radiant in the afternoon sun. “Got a bite?” he whispers, just before the fish jumps, sending ripples towards the shore. One by one, they grow wide and disappear._

His vision blurs, then sharpens, and Noctis finds himself floating in a blue and purple expanse. Somehow, he knows that the masked face staring down at him matches his own. 

“The prophesied hour is not yet come,” the Draconian intones, answering the question Noctis hadn’t voiced. “The True King shall continue to reflect and prepare.”

Letting the wave of disappointment swell and pass over him, Noctis nods and closes his eyes.

When he opens them on pitch darkness, the cold stone of Angelgard is at his back, once again. He touches his jaw and it doesn’t really surprise him to find that it’s smooth. 

Standing, he crosses the room to peer through the slit in the wall. As always, when he looks up at the moon, Noctis remembers his dear friend’s parting words: _‘When the world falls down around you and hope is lost, when you find yourself alone, amid a lightless place, look to the distance. Know that I am there, and that I watch over you always.’_

“Luna,” he breathes. “ _Please._ Watch over them, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> I am so grateful to fandom pals on discord! I have long had a silly barber!bahamut headcanon because Noctis doesn't rock out of Angelgard with ten years of hair growth, and the Draconian has a lot of blades. Chatting about it yesterday inspired me to write this--so thanks, friends! Special thanks to [Cygna_hime](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cygna_hime/pseuds/Cygna_hime) for the last-minute feedback!


End file.
